Edward is 11.5!

You know a great place to spend your half birthday?  Puerto Rico.

This last year has been amazing for Edward.  He has grown tremendously. Home school was the exact right choice for him.  He has blossomed.  He loves taking life at his own pace.  I know he misses his friends from school but that is all.  Edward is responsible and dependable.  He is my clean kid.  He always makes his bed.  He always puts his clothes in the dirty clothes hamper.  He always hangs up his wet towel.  He is responsible.

Edward is extremely caring.  He is sensitive and kind.  He has such a big heart.  I just love this boy with my whole entire heart.  He complains less and less.  He understands logic.  He loves science.  He loves airplanes.  He still wants to be a pilot when he grows up.  He is sweet.  It is hard for me to believe he will be 12 in just 6 short months.  

I love this boy.  To the ends of the earth and back.

Swim Team Photos

 A summer without our beloved swim team was hard.  We had to make due with swimming every other day in the out door pool at Riverpoint July and August.  I, of course, could not go with out capture some type of swim team photo for our memory.

A Covid-19 Piano Recital

 Well this year is going as planned at all. 

That's the understatement of the year.  However, the show must go on.  I asked all of my students to come to their lessons prepared to be recorded so I could put together a video recital.  YUCK!  But it worked.  No, hardly any of my students watched the full video, but at least they felt like they performed.  

The full video is posted on YouTube but here I'll just share my boys videos.  I am super proud of Edward for choosing a difficult song and learning it!  Nolen has made so much progress on the cello.  It is incredible to see them grow in music!

 

A Book Review

 I can not think of a book that has moved me so much that I have wanted to write a blog post. 

 

Do yourself a favor and read this book! By far, this is my favorite book of 2020. So many things Sue wrote hit too close to home.
We are always looking for a "why" in a tragedy when there isn't one simple answer to the question.
She was forced to grieve alone when she, too, was facing the hardest day of her life that day.
We rely upon police to solve mental health issues that they are not trained to deal with.
Parents have no where else to turn when their children show signs of mental illness. They are often forced to choose between calling the police and trying to solve the problem on their own.
I empathized with Sue's loss. I haven't lost a child but I have been through a profound loss of "what could be" that took me years to dig out of. I found her truthful sorrow to be physically painful because I, too, have felt a deep loss in my life. I loved her honesty. I loved that she was willing to share anything and everything with the police and media so that a tragedy could be prevented; however, her book is proof that we can not see what others do not want us to see.
Sue is extremely insightful when she reveals her own mental health issues and said that she didn't even recognize the issue until it was screaming at her! I, too, have felt that exact same scream!
We do not talk about mental health because of the stigma around "needing help".
I loved the honesty of this book. Sue and her husband did everything normal people do with their children. She was a great mother. Dylan came from a very loving home "but he never felt loved." I often wonder if my children feel this way. We can not know how others perceive their world.
This book was a wake up call to me. Sue exclaims she would have torn apart her sons room a thousand times over if she had known there were any issues. She would have dug deep and sat in silence with her son had she any idea how he truly felt. She brushed off things that all parents brush off when living with teenagers.
I can not recommend this book enough. I loved it. I loved it so much that I wanted to pick it back up and read it again. I wanted to write notes and set daily reminders to myself to be a present mother. To ask all the hard questions. To be invasive even when my boys want to be left alone. It is heart breaking to hear any stories of suicide. We tend to want to blame the parents but mental health issues are often swept under the rug with out any offered help. Suicide is in the top 10 for death in the US! TOP 10! And we are all so scared to talk about it because we may trigger someone. Among many things Sue brings up her book, she offers clear insight into the Columbine tragedy. No one saw it coming. Dylan hid his true feelings from everyone, even his best friends. The only person who saw Dylan's pain was Eric and Eric exploited his pain rather than offer help.
Read this book. Twice.

Summer Happenings with a lot less story

 To say that not much has been happening the last few weeks would be a gross understatement.  Not much has been happening.  I have been taking the boys swimming every single day, we have been reading our scriptures, eating smoothies, playing iPad, and going to music lessons.  That's it.  That is all.  We eat dinner with my parents every single night but really there is nothing to report. 

My dad had a kidney stone this week and he had surgery to remove it.  I guess that was our one eventful thing that happened.  We have a trip planned to Puerto Rico next week with my sister.  I have been extremely stressed about making this trip actually happen during a global pandemic including unnecessary lock downs.  Either way, I am moving forward in my life.  Continuing to live during insane political times.

 I took the boys on a little hike with their two best friends to Big Tesuque camp ground.  We found tons of butterfly's and loved playing in the water.

My dad and I replaced two of the lights in the front formal living room for my birthday.  They look amazing and we had to dangle for our lives from a high ladder to get one up! 

We were able to attend church once in July!  It felt great!

 

The full moon from our back patio.

Delicious strawberries from our garden!

I had to capture a photo of our green grass once this year, just for recording purposes!

I try to clean these gross carpets once a year.  Looks like I need to do this every single month.  This carpet is not making it.  Maybe time to replace them someday soon.

My favorite running partner willing to meet me early in the morning.

Running with a mask on is not my favorite activity.

Nolen and his friend Dylan building a catapult.

Fresh haircuts all around!